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A How to Holiday.

Is it just me, or did Christmas come a tad bit early this year? Somehow I convinced my Dad that two days after Thanksgiving was THE DAY to buy a Christmas tree for his house. The house has 10 foot ceilings, so I am pretty sure, even when I am off to my own house, and my own tree, I am still going to love buying that monster. We literally bought a christmas tree in shorts, definitely a first.

But, just because my life became (prematurely) christmasy, does not mean I have stopped basking in the beauty of Thanksgiving. I didn’t get a chance to share it with you guys… except for the prep leading up to the big feast… so better late than never right?

Let me begin by thanking Pinterest for the endless ideas and great inspiration. That stinkin website, I tell ya – a real life changer, right?

We had two tables set up this year. I am privy to this one (it’s in the sunny breakfast room, much better photo opps).

I am in love with these ikea glasses. Not only are they amazing to drink from, they make a great vase… at a great height for the middle of the table.

For the place cards … or the pear cards? Any pear that stands on it’s behind, and has a stem will do, but these little buddies were adorable. I cut out leaf shapes from the cardstock, punch a small hole in them and tied them to the pears (with the help of my darling baby cousin).

Placing the napkins under the plate is just a great way to add color to the table. Also, because the pears were sitting on the plate, it was the next best option for where to set them.

If you want to scatter the pinecones, leaves, and chestnuts like I did, make sure that everything is washed first. Bugs are not welcome at my table, I don’t know about yours 🙂 . After washing the pinecones, invest in a can of at least clear spray paint, or a metallic or muted beige tone – it keeps the sticky sap from ruining your tablecloth.

The last bit of decoration I chose to add to the table were these strips of paper. Thankful was the theme this year – and I thought it would be a nice idea to have everyone write down what they were thankful for while they ate (especially because we were split in two tables) so that later in the night we could read them together.

Before everyone left to go home, we gathered around and read each one. It was really so sweet.

To the same theme, I also added this great garland over the fireplace.

I started by threading onto yarn, cut out felt leaves in different fall-y colors. The next step is cutting rounds out of a thick card stock, and using small (I spray painted mine gold) clothespins, I attached each letter to the garland.

The best part was the surprise I got from two of the cutie staying over at my house. Hand print turkeys to clip on along the way. How cute?!

The two sets of little hands also helped out a lot when making my favorite item of the season – clove oranges! Get yourself a big container of cloves, and a few oranges and get to sticking. Using a fine point from either a pencil or a chopstick to pre-stick your designs, or I love to cover mine completely in cloves (It smell SO good).

As excited I was to decorate for my favorite holiday, multiply that, and you get my excitement when it came to make these beautiful pom poms. They aren’t even seasonal – I could have made them any day – but I decided as a way to jazz up the dessert table, I had to have these.

Want to know how to make them yourselves? Click, here. (Thanks Martha.)

The dessert table was a project in and of itself. Dad is responsible for the savory for the day, and me, well … a lot & the sweets.

I have been dying to find a reason to use chalkboard marker and chalkboard paper. It is such a fun idea – and so much better than a silly tablecloth. Check out what I did..

Ideally a larger table would have been nice… but even with what I had I was able to get the look I wanted. Make sure to incorporate height (the cupcake stand) as well as different sized plates … and a flower accent or some sort of garnish to the table is always pleasing to the eye.

I wish I could share all of the recipes for the desserts, but that might be for another day.

And just as I would love the world to be (desserts before dinner) … I can’t forget to share with you the compliments to the dessert table.

The dinner table.

It really was the best thanksgiving we’ve done in a while. Dad and I have grown into quite a team.

and let’s not forget our right hand boy and supervisor.

I only hope the whole holiday season will be as wonderful as that day was.

Have a great day, and enjoy the beautiful weather, darlings. I’m off on a little adventure (share with ya tomorrow!).